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By Paul Schott Stevens

February 26, 2019

The following ICI Viewpoints is a letter to the Wall Street Journal by Paul Schott Stevens, ICI president and CEO, in response to an article published on February 11, 2019:

American workers have many options to ensure that their retirement savings follow them throughout their careers (“Forget the 401(k),” February 11). Each year, millions of job changers roll their assets from employer plans into individual retirement accounts (IRAs). Millions of self-employed individuals save through Simplified Employee Pensions (SEPs), SIMPLE IRAs, Solo 401(k)s, or other plans. And millions of workers who lack employer plans fund their own tax-favored traditional or Roth IRAs.

In short, we already have a system in which your retirement savings can follow you wherever you go or however you work. And our system actively engages employers in promoting and facilitating workers’ retirement saving; features vigorous competition among investment providers; and has fostered such private-sector innovations as auto-enrollment, auto-escalation, target date funds, employer matches, and participant education and empowerment. Our system also preserves individual choice and control of investments—prized by 94 percent of savers with 401(k)s and similar plans.

All of those features would be at risk under proposals, like those in your article, that would reduce employers’ role and create new bureaucracies.

IRA: Will You Be Mine?

By Sarah Holden

February 12, 2019

As this Valentine’s Day approaches, step back and consider treating yourself or your spouse to an individual retirement account (IRA) contribution. Saving for retirement is an important household financial goal and contributing to an IRA is a good step toward providing for those later years....

From December Outflows to January Inflows: Seasonal Factors in Mutual Fund Flows

By Shelly Antoniewicz and Morris Mitler

February 4, 2019

As US and global stock markets churned in December, the press took note of ICI’s reports on outflows from US long-term mutual funds and drew a hasty conclusion: individual fund investors were fleeing from market turmoil. But weighing flows against total assets is the first step to putting fund flows in context. A second factor to be considered is the calendar. It turns out that mutual fund flows have a distinct seasonal pattern, with stronger inflows early in the year giving way to weaker inflows or outflows during the second half.